Bits Me: Using Bitstrips in a Holistic Adult ESL Classroom
Figure 1. Photo from mashable.com
In an L2 adult classroom where students come from all walks of life with various personal experiences and diverse cultural backgrounds, the learning environment is rife with opportunities to employ a holistic approach. As Blanton (1991) said: The holistic model of education, previously largely limited to elementary-level schooling is also a veritable adult-level model to promote language acquisition and link language to content. How important is integrating language to content in the holistic ESL curriculum? Very. First of all, it facilitates students’ transition from the ESL classroom to mainstream society. Blanton (ibid.) proposes using a whole language approach – a text-based and student-centered curriculum based on holistic principles. Blanton argues that programmes that rely on skills development (i.e. too much focus on grammar and form) to develop students’ proficiency leave students bereft of the linguistic and intellectual immersion necessary for language acquisition and cognitive development. She also adds that this particularly hampers refugee and immigrant students who most likely received insufficient English language lessons from developing the deep literacy on which their linguistic success depends.
Using a content-based ESL curriculum is something that SLA (second language acquisition) educators Freeman and Freeman (1988) also highly recommend, stating that: “English language learners need to be offered many opportunities in school to use language in authentic ways that are interesting to them and that encourage them to interact with others” (p. 133). They emphasize that: ”the best way to teach language in any context is through content” (p. 31). Renowned SLA researcher Stephen Krashen (1985) is also a firm supporter of exposing learners to what he calls “comprehensible input” or linguistic data based on content understandable to an L2 learner. Krashen (ibid) rationalizes: “We are able to understand language containing un-acquired grammar with the help of context, which includes extra-linguistic information, our knowledge of the world, and previously acquired linguistic competence” (p. 2). As an ESL educator, I am always looking for ways to engage my students to help them succeed linguistically. Hence, looking at various principles of holistic education is very interesting to me. One such principle is the Narrative-based approach where narrative-based activities are central to the holistic classroom. One such school that employs the holistic approach is Toronto’s Equinox Holistic Alternative School. It has developed its own 7 holistic principles that are integrated in the curriculum. They see Holistic Education as a pedagogical approach that “engages the head, heart, hands and spirit. It is a curriculum that makes connections -- community, earth, soul, subject and mind-and-body connections -- and it develops intuition and inquiry.”
So, what role then does narrative play in adult ESL learning in a holistic classroom? Sauvè (2002) on storytelling and learning: “When story is the medium of learning rather than just the end thereof, we come to see that the learners' real needs are much greater than vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar. We also see that in such a classroom, community emerges.” With this, I propose using Bitstrips in the ESL classroom as an engaging, education L2 learning tool. Bitstrips is a web and mobile application that allows users to create a cartoon of themselves and their friends.
As inspired by the narrative-based principle at Equinox that states that “an imaginative story brings concepts to life. New concepts are introduced through stories. Math, Science, Social Studies, Geography and almost all new units are presented through stories, which are also a way to connect students to their cultural heritages”, I think that using Bitstrips in the classroom can be a very effective way to introduce elements of storytelling in an adult ESL classroom. In fact, Bitstrips can be used in a variety of subjects and can augment an F2F class experience. Using the holistic approach, the ESL teacher can ask students to create cartoons with a certain theme guiding the activity. The teacher is advised to encourage students to use their own experiences. This way, L2 learners can easily become familiar in using authentic English in real life situations that are both relatable and significant to the students.
Using Bitstrips in a Holistic Adult ESL Classroom
In an L2 adult classroom where students come from all walks of life with various personal experiences and diverse cultural backgrounds, the learning environment is rife with opportunities to employ a holistic approach. As Blanton (1991) said: The holistic model of education, previously largely limited to elementary-level schooling is also a veritable adult-level model to promote language acquisition and link language to content. How important is integrating language to content in the holistic ESL curriculum? Very. First of all, it facilitates students’ transition from the ESL classroom to mainstream society. Blanton (ibid.) proposes using a whole language approach – a text-based and student-centered curriculum based on holistic principles. Blanton argues that programmes that rely on skills development (i.e. too much focus on grammar and form) to develop students’ proficiency leave students bereft of the linguistic and intellectual immersion necessary for language acquisition and cognitive development. She also adds that this particularly hampers refugee and immigrant students who most likely received insufficient English language lessons from developing the deep literacy on which their linguistic success depends.
As an ESL educator, I am always looking for ways to engage my students to help them succeed linguistically. Hence, looking at various principles of holistic education is very interesting to me. One such principle is the Narrative-based approach where narrative-based activities are central to the holistic classroom.
One such school that employs the holistic approach is Toronto’s Equinox Holistic Alternative School. It has developed its own 7 holistic principles that are integrated in the curriculum. They see Holistic Education as a pedagogical approach that “engages the head, heart, hands and spirit. It is a curriculum that makes connections -- community, earth, soul, subject and mind-and-body connections -- and it develops intuition and inquiry.”
So, what role then does narrative play in adult ESL learning in a holistic classroom? Sauvè (2002) on storytelling and learning: “When story is the medium of learning rather than just the end thereof, we come to see that the learners' real needs are much greater than vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar. We also see that in such a classroom, community emerges.”
With this, I propose using Bitstrips in the ESL classroom as an engaging, education L2 learning tool. Bitstrips is a web and mobile application that allows users to create a cartoon of themselves and their friends.
As inspired by the narrative-based principle at Equinox that states that “an imaginative story brings concepts to life. New concepts are introduced through stories. Math, Science, Social Studies, Geography and almost all new units are presented through stories, which are also a way to connect students to their cultural heritages”, I think that using Bitstrips in the classroom can be a very effective way to introduce elements of storytelling in an adult ESL classroom. In fact, Bitstrips can be used in a variety of subjects and can augment an F2F class experience. Using the holistic approach, the ESL teacher can ask students to create cartoons with a certain theme guiding the activity. The teacher is advised to encourage students to use their own experiences. This way, L2 learners can easily become familiar in using authentic English in real life situations that are both relatable and significant to the students.
References:
Blanton, L. (1991). A holistic approach to college ESL: Integrating language and content. http://www.teslcanadajournal.ca/index.php/tesl/article/viewFile/942/761. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
Equinox Holistic Alternative School. http://equinoxschool.ca/about/principles/. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
Freeman, D. & Freeman, Y. (1998). EFL/ESL Teaching: Principles for Success. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Krashen, S. (1985). The Input Hypothesis: Issues and Implications. Essex, London: Butler & Tanner, Ltd.
Sauve, V. (2002). Storyweavers: Holistic education for ESL/EFL Learners. TESL Canada Journal. 20 (1) pp. 89-102. [[http://www.teslcanadajournal.ca/index.php/tesl/article/viewFile/942/761%20Retrieved%7Chttp://www.teslcanadajournal.ca/index.php/tesl/article/viewFile/942/761]] Retrieved July 29, 2014.